Icelandic Surnames

Icelanders don't use family names. Instead of one name for the family, Icelanders have names with a patryonymic reference. The result is that the father and mother have different surnames, and the children have different surnames from those of their parents.

We can illustrate with a few examples. Imagine a husband and wife whose names are Jón Gunnarsson and Selma Jakobsdóttir. The first name of Jón Gunnarson's father is Gunnar and the first name of Selma's father is Jakob.

If Jón Gunnarsson and Selma Jakobsdóttir have a son and name him Ólafur, his name becomes Ólafur Jónsson. But if they have a daughter and name her Helga, her name becomes Helga Jónsdóttir. The relationships are clear: Ólafur is Jón's son and Helga is Jón's daughter.

Let us illustrate with another example. Imagine that Ólafur Jónsson marries Auður Magnúsdóttir. They have a daughter and name her Ragna. Her name then becomes Ragna Ólafursdottir.

Icelanders use the traditional system of names that was once common in Scandinavia. Women do not take the husband's name when they marry, and sons and daughters use different last names. The last name of women ends with -dóttir (daughter) and the last name of men ends with -son (son).